Max-Ernest
Max-Ernest is a main character in The Secret Series, and is one of the three major protagonists in the pentalogy, along with his two best-friends, Cassandra and Yo-Yoji. He debuted in the first book to the series, The Name Of This Book Is Secret, which is also the book where he firsts meets Cass. Max-Ernest's name is consisted of two names, one of his father's father's name, and one of his mother's father's name. Both his parents fought over Max-Ernest's name, but neither could come to an agreement in names, hence, his name containing two. His parent's later divorced over the naming incident, leading Max-Ernest to be left to share practically everything between the two parents, so as to not favor one or the other and upset either his mother or father, depending on who he favored. He even shared his house between the two (the house was split in half and his bedroom was "smack-bang in the middle"). However, by the time the fourth back comes around, both his parents have re-married and even have a kid, a boy named Paul-Clay. Once again, they couldn't decide on a name for their second son, hence, they went with two names. Max-Ernest is an active member of the Terces Society, a clandestine society founded by The Jester to protect the unveiling of The Secret, which was rumored to reveal the secret to immortality (one of alchemy's biggest secrets), something The Midnight Sun thirsts for and spends every day of their lives searching for. Max-Ernest dreams of becoming a comedian/ magician, but seems to want to be a comdian more. Unfortunately, nobody likes his jokes and they redicule him. However, towards the end of the series, he actually becomes funny. He ends up telling Cass a joke and Cass believes he's actually becoming funny, but is too focused on The Secret to really care. In Max-Ernest's graduation speech, he actually gets the audience to laugh, unlike his talent show perfromance. That's when Cass and Yo-Yoji actually feel very proud to have him as a friend and laugh with the audience, letting them realize he actually has become funny. Physical appearance The most notable thing about Max-Ernest is his hair which is spiky and each strand is cut the exact same length, so as not to favor any one strand more then the others. Cass thinks this makes him look like a porcupine. He likes to dress nicely, as shown in one of the chapter drawings. This means buttoned up shirts with the collar folded down, jeans, and dress shoes. Max- Ernest is very small compared to his friends and peers. In a drawing, he seemed to be the smallest one there. Personality Max-Ernest is very logical. That means he doesn't understand sarcasm, and he has to point out the wrong in everything. People usually find him very annoying because of this. He is very kind and has a warm heart. When it comes to being a good friend, he is always one to step up and do whatever it takes. He always seems to be very insecure about himself. Especially when Yo-Yoji comes to town and befriends Cass. He is very bad with feelings, and even sees therapists for this. He also sees therapists because he can't stop talking. The only problem is, nobody knows what his condition is. Etymology It is very likely that the name Max-Ernest is a parody of Max Ernst, an artist. SPOILER (The initials of Max-Ernest are ME which is believed to be intentional since it's later reveiled that Max-Ernest is really the author) Max-Ernest's true identity Max Ernest is Pseudonymous Bosch. Many clues have been given throughout the books. #The initials of Max Ernest are M.E., spelling "me". This could very well be Pseudonymous Bosch's "initial clue" from his message on the number 1(800)289 6299. (But also, most times he has written in the book, he has signed "PB", also the initials of Pietro Bergamo, another character, part of the Terces soceity. Still a mystery, but not as many clues, probably just a sidetrack.) #Another supporting fact is that after Max-Ernest discovers he is in fact not allergic to chocolate, he eats a piece, and it becomes his "newfound love", and readers of the Secret Series know chocolate is Pseudonymous Bosch's favorite food ("But I think calling it a food is demeaning"- Pseudonymous Bosch.) Both make the same noise while eating chocolate as well. #In "This Isn't What it Looks Like", Max-Ernest's parents warn him not to put his brother into mayonnaise, and later in the book, Pseudonymous Bosch tells a story of himself almost drowning in mayonnaise himself. #Another bit of information is in the fourth book, This Isn't What it Looks Like. In it, Max-Ernest looks through the Double Monocle and sees his future self as a writer. He later tells Cass he saw himself writing, "I can't keep a secret, never could." As any dedicated reader will remember, this is one of the more memorable sentences in The Name of This Book Is Secret. Max-Ernest also mentions reading the first chapter of the book, with all Xxxx and Xxx-Xxxxx and such. This proves the fact that Max-Ernest is indeed Pseudonymous Bosch. #Finally, in the epilogue of the finale book of the series, You Have To Stop This, Pseudonymous Bosch reveals that he is Max-Ernest and refuses to tell about the adult lives of Cass and Yo-Yoji. However Pseudonymous Bosch continually states he does not know what happened at certain points even saying he can write about "being captured hours away from home with no way to know if you'll live." (paraphrased,) without shedding a tear because it never happened to him,but it just happened to Max-Ernest,plus he writes about feelings Cass would NEVER '''tell him she felt.But she '''could have told him...mabey Relationships Towards Peers Cass In the first book, the two are shown to be just collaborators. Nothing more. Cass seemed to be particularly annoyed with him and even ends up saying she doesn't want him to be her collaborator anymore. It all changes though when she gets trapped at the Midnight Sun Spa and desperately needs help. Max-Ernest comes to her rescue and helps her to save Benjamin. The two become friends, and in the beginning of the third book they are said to be BEST friends. In the fourth book Max-Ernest even says he thinks of her as a sister. Cass sometimes will push Max-Ernest to do things he never dreamed of doing before, but he knows she does it for his own good. An example is when she pushed him into the water even though he was deathly afraid of drowning. The Midnight Sun was after them, so she had no choice. Nonetheless, the two enjoy each other's company very much and are shown to think very highly of each other. Besides, without each other they would still be friendless, which is why they are vey thankful to have each other in each other's lives. They have a very heart-felt relationship, and they are probably the definition of true friendship. However, towards the middle or so in the fifth book, Cass seems to be spending less and less time with him and more with Yo-Yoji. They start to make fun of him and tease him. Max-Ernest is even shown to be thinking to himself that he didn't feel right with them and that he felt out of place when they were IMing. The chapter ends with him having doubtful feeling towards them. Throughout the whole book, he acts jealous towards them. It is very unlikely that Max-Ernest becomes a third wheel to Cass and Yo-Yoji, but there is a possibility. Max-Ernest is always doubting himself in the fifth book. He says to himself things like, "Why wouldn't she like him more? He's better at everything." (Not exactly how he said it but same concept.) That is probably how he became Psuednomous Bosch,a "friendless writer", although they are probably still friends. If it was summed up, they are very good friends and probably will never fade away from each other. They need each other. Yo-Yoji At first, Max-Ernest was jealous of him. He started saying things like, "sick" and "yo" to Cass because he thought he was stealing his best friend away from him, or he could like Cass, but that is just a speculation. However, later on in the book, they become friends. Their friendship is a little awkward at first, considering both of them are horrible with their feelings and expressing them. But it's because they like each other so much. Yo-Yoji is kind of like a big brother to Max-Ernest because he teaches him things that he should have known but nobody ever bothered to show him. For example, Yo-Yoji held out his fist to Max-Ernest and he thought that he was going to punch him. Yo-Yoji then showed him how to fist bump. Although Yo-Yoji can be shown to be annoyed with Max-Ernest, he does love him when it really comes down to it. Dr L. and Ms. Mauvais They hate this kid. More than they hate Cass. Why? Because he is the one that's always solving the riddles and cracking the codes. Without him, Cass probably wouldn't have been as close as she was to discovering the secret. And they HATE him for that. Aside from capturing Cass, they also sometimes like to capture Max-Ernest because they really do not like him. And that is that. Mel (Melanie) Mel doesn't seem to have much of a problem with him at first. She's just glad her daughter has finally found someone to be friends with. That is until Cass starts running away along with him and goes into a "coma" when she was in the room with him. Mel suspects that he's a trouble- maker and is the one getting her into the problems that Cass creates herself. In the forth book, when they were in the hospital visiting Cass, Mel says, " Why is it that these things always happen when-" to him, but then doesn't finish her sentence. It's obvious she was going to say, "when she's with you." She's hesitant to let him into the hospital room, but Grampa Lary and Grampa Wayne tell Mel that Cass would want him there with her. She then lets him in flustered. In other words, Cass' mother does not think too fondly of him. Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne They love him because he's Cass' best friend. Max-Ernest comes to the fire station with Cass every Wednesday, where her grandpas work. They bake the two cookies and they have tea. Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne treat Max-Ernest like their grandson. Owen Although maybe not as much as Cass, Owen loves Max-Ernest. He is always there helping him, even if he may not see it at first. He is one of his most dearest friends. U can tell in the 4th book when Owen dresses up as the secretary and gives him the double monocle Category:Characters Category:Main Characters Category:Males Category:Members of the Terces Society